


weak

by thelyphonida



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 09:48:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29872824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelyphonida/pseuds/thelyphonida
Summary: “Do you think they'll come back?”The question held so little weight to Milton that he didn’t even look up from what he was doing as he answered. “What do you mean? Of course they will.”
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	weak

**Author's Note:**

> something possessed me and I sat down and spent 2 hours writing this

_“Do you think they'll come back?”_

_The question held so little weight to Milton that he didn’t even look up from what he was doing as he answered. “What do you mean? Of course they will.”_

_“What makes you say that?” Mikhail asked._

_Milton finally looked up and over at him. He knitted his eyebrows in concern at the question. “Why wouldn’t they come back? They promised they would.”_

_Mikhail looked down at his hands. Now that he was faced with Milton’s optimism and the possibility of crushing it, he didn’t want to say. Milton didn’t need to know about the scenarios he’d been running through his head ever since the adults had left. He didn’t dare mention that they could become orphans again- both of them. “Nevermind,” he said, shaking his head._

_Milton stared at him for a few seconds, concern still etched onto his face._

_______

Mikhail gawked at the scene around him. Everywhere he looked, he saw destruction. Destroyed shops, rubble from projectile rocks and ruined buildings, and even the occasional body, crushed under one of said rocks.

It had taken him a bit to realize what had happened. But, gradually, he’d figured it out. Some sort of blast had traveled across the Tornan Titan, destroying Auresco and no doubt everything else on the titan. He wondered how long until it’d start sinking. 

He glanced down at Milton, laying on the ground in front of him. His eyes were squeezed shut, his breathing labored, an obvious look of pain on his face. Gashes and scratches peppered his skin, left behind by the shrapnel of the blast.

This was why he was still alive, Mikhail realized. If Milton hadn’t thrown himself in front of him, Mikhail probably would’ve looked like this right now. Or they both would.

“...Milton...” Mikhail said weakly, leaning forward. 

If the other boy heard him, he didn’t indicate it.

Mikhail leaned back and looked around at the surrounding damage. He spotted a pink Nopon, cowering under a half broken display table. A short distance away from the Nopon, he spotted a girl, probably around his age. She leaned all her weight against a boulder, as if she was trying to move it. His eyes traveled over the expanse of the large rock, dread bubbling up in his stomach when he realized she actually _was_ \- that there was a body crushed beneath it. He quickly looked away.

_______

“A ship is here!” someone yelled, startling Mikhail out of his stupor. He looked up, following the sound of the voice and matching it to an elderly Tornan man. 

All the living or conscious people on the street looked at the man too. “What?” a woman called back.

“The Ardainians!” the man shouted. “They’ve brought a ship to evacuate!”

A wave of chatter traveled across the sparse crowd. Slowly, people left the spots they’d been glued to and wandered in the direction the man pointed. The pink Nopon Mikhail had seen before was one of the first, gingerly waddling out from beneath the table. The other he’d noticed, the girl, hesitated for a few moments. She chanced a glance down at her crushed companion briefly, before following the rest of the crowd.

Mikhail couldn’t keep his attention on one thing. Every second he’d switch from watching the bodies file past him, to looking down at Milton, searching for any hint of improvement on his face or in his body.

Eventually, all the people had gone, and only him, Milton, and the old man were left.

“Wait…!” Mikhail yelled to the man as he started to turn to leave.

The paused, looking over his shoulder at Mikhail quizzically.

“My friend...he’s still alive,” Mikhail said.

The man looked down at Milton. “Leave him, boy. He’s half dead already.” 

“But-!” Mikhail countered, but the man had already turned and started off.

He looked at Milton’s prone body uselessly. He couldn’t move him on his own.

“Milton,” Mikhail tried again.

He didn’t reply.

Mikhail clenched his jaw. He leaned forward and grabbed his friend, half-heartedly lifting him up as stumbled to his feet. Milton was completely limp, even as Mikhail supported him.

Very slowly, they followed the old man and the rest of the survivors.

  
  


_______

Mikhail leaned against a pillar as he sat on the floor of the Titan ship. He cradled Milton’s head in his lap as he listened to the Tornan Titan writhe in the distance as it died. 

Milton’s condition hadn’t gotten any better. If anything, he’d gotten worse. Once they’d gotten on the ship and stopped moving, Mikhail had noticed Milton’s wounds had worsened. The small cuts had grown, bleeding more in the process. They still bled. He didn’t particularly care if it got on his clothes.

_“We can’t let you bring him on the ship,”_ the Ardainian soldier had told him.

_“Why?”_ Mikhail had asked defensively.

_“He’s dying- he’ll only take up more space.”_

_“You don’t have any doctors who can help?”_

The soldier had shook his head, the funny little point on top of his helmet cutting through the air with the movement. _“He’s too far gone. Nobody can help him.”_

_“How do you know? Are you a doctor?”_

_“I’m a soldier. I know what it looks like when someone’s beyond help, and your friend is looking exactly like that.”_

Mikhail had looked up at him defiantly like a child -like the little kid he was- before walking past the soldier onto the ship.

“They think you’re dying,” Mikhail mumbled, half to Milton and half to himself. He didn’t want to believe them, but he knew it was true. Anybody would be able to tell just from looking at him.

He leaned forward and pulled Milton’s limp body into an embrace. He stayed like that for a while, even as he felt his breathing slowly stop.

  
  


_______

Mythra stumbled toward him- toward _them_. She fell to her knees, her eyes locked onto Milton’s lifeless face. Mikhail watched her as she lifted a hand to it, gently caressing it. The motion didn’t match now that he knew what had led to it. It was her fault he was dead, yet here she was lamenting it. 

Mikhail snapped Milton’s body away from her hand, pulling it toward himself. Mythra’s hand hovered in the air for a few seconds as she processed what had just happened. She pulled it back and stood up, her eyes wide as she stumbled backwards. Addam caught her, following as she sank to her knees and screamed.

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> this is is my favorite cutscene :)


End file.
